


Purple Summer

by sunflowersapphic



Category: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Finn/Sheinkin/Reiss
Genre: M/M, everything is gay and sad, growing up is rough kiddos, just a short one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 10:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4956598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowersapphic/pseuds/sunflowersapphic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That field had come to hold a sort of magic to the two of them, something both boys knew they wouldn’t be able to replicate.<br/>Which was exactly what made the summer equally as agonizing as it was blissful."</p>
<p>Growing up and moving on is harder when you have someone you'd prefer to not leave behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purple Summer

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to The Song of Purple Summer a while back and thought "wow, I need to write something!" but decided it was best to look up what exactly "purple summer" meant before I did so. After looking for a while I found a quote from Steven Sater himself on what it meant and knew exactly what I had to do-- "For me, 'purple summer' represents the time of maturation--a time when the fields will yield crops, and the horses bear foals again. It is the time when the painful spring of adolescence reaches the maturity of summer." There's a lot that can be done with the concept of Purple Summer but for now I'm keeping it short and sweet. Enjoy!

The summer following their senior year had been in equal parts the best and worst summer of both of their lives.  
On one hand, there had been long days spent in the field behind Leaf’s house, full of lazy kisses and long stretches of comfortable silence. Chip swears that he could have laid in that field forever, listening to Leaf talk about whatever the hell he was on about that particular day. That field had come to hold a sort of magic to the two of them, something both boys knew they wouldn’t be able to replicate.  
Which was exactly what made the summer equally as agonizing as it was blissful.  
As the days passed it became terrifyingly apparent that the day when they would have to part was fast approaching, and with that came the realization that what they had very well might not follow them into autumn.  
Chip, ever the more anxious of the two, was the first to bring it up one day when they were relaxing in their field.  
“So…” A pause. “What happens come September?”  
Leaf thought the question over for a moment, seemingly putting a fair bit of thought into things. “Well, the leaves turn. It gets colder, so that means we can start wearing sweaters again, which is always great…” he continued on, fiddling with the hem of his cardigan.  
Chip sighed and sat up, shaking his head. He loved Leaf but that didn’t mean he was never bothered by his tendency to ramble. “No, you get what I mean. What happens to—“ he broke off, gesturing vaguely between the two of them.  
Leaf paused before nodding in understanding. Folding his arms under his head he took the question into consideration once more. “That depends. Whatever we want to happen, I guess.”  
Another sigh. “But it isn’t that simple—“  
“Why can’t it be, though?” Leaf followed Chip’s lead and sat up, confusion painted across his face. “I mean—everyone acts like these things have to be so hard and so complicated, but why can’t it just be? Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, sure, but why can’t we at least shoot for the outcome we want? We’re gonna be far away from each other but that doesn’t have to mean anything if we don’t let it.” He took Chip’s hand and smiled weakly. Leaf’s voice dropped below its normal volume and his smile fell. “I don’t want to let it mean anything.” For the first time that summer Chip could see that the boy sitting beside him was just as scared as he was, which was in so many ways both reassuring and unsettling. Leaf was always the one having faith in what they had, and seeing him shaken didn’t help to quiet any of Chip’s fears.  
After a moment of long and unusually tense silence they both laid back down in the soft grass of the meadow. Inching closer to one another they sat and watched the sky, enjoying what they had together while the world was still intact.


End file.
